Cleveland Browns end long losing skid with win against Cincinnati Bengals

By JEFF SCHUDEL

Sunday, October 14, 2012

CLEVELAND -- So this is what winning feels like, players realized as they sat at their chairs in the locker room, for the first time this season in no hurry to leave.

The rookie-filled Browns leaned on veterans Sunday to win for the first time this season and avoid setting a record for the longest losing streak in the 64-history of the team.

Beating up on the Bengals, 34-24, in Cleveland Browns Stadium made the Browns 1-5 this season, stopped the 11-game losing streak that started with a 23-20 loss to the Bengals on Nov. 27 last year and ended a skid of 12 straight losses in the AFC North.

Jimmy Haslam III, who will be in Chicago on Tuesday when the NFL votes to approve his purchase of the Browns from Randy Lerner, was in the locker room congratulating the players. He emerged smiling and eager to keep the momentum going.

"It was a great win," Haslam said. "They played well."

Rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden hooked up with rookie receiver Josh Gordon on a 71-yard pass play for the Browns first touchdown, and after that it was as though the older players said, 'We got it from here.'

The Browns went three-and-out in their first two possessions of the third quarter after going three and out in their last three possessions of the second quarter. During those five possessions the Browns never moved beyond their own 29.

A 14-7 halftime lead for the Bengals remained unchanged until the Bengals' Kevin Huber punted from the Cincinnati 45.

Earlier, Josh Cribbs muffed a punt out of bounds. Huber could have drilled the punt into the end zone, but instead he kicked it so Cribbs might be tempted to field it on a windy afternoon.

Cribbs, in his eighth season, waved his arms at the level of his waist, signaling his teammates to stay away. The Bengals thought he was signaling for a fair catch. Cribbs caught the ball and returned it 60 yards to the Bengals 30.

Even though the Browns failed again to get a first down, 14-year veteran Phil Dawson kicked a 41-yard field goal and the Browns were on their way. Dawson kicked a 38-yard field goal on their next possession and on the one after that Montario Hardesty, seeing his first action of the season because Trent Richardson was on the sideline with a rib injury, vaulted the pile from the 1 to give the Browns a 20-14 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Mike Nugent kicked a field goal to inch the Bengals back within three points and then Cribbs returned a kick 44 yards to the Browns 37. Weeden finished off that drive with a three-yard touchdown pass to ninth-year tight end Benjamin Watson.

Ten seconds after Watson scored, 11-year vet Sheldon Brown, the old man of the secondary, swiped a pass from Andy Dalton and returned in 19 yards for a touchdown to give the Browns a 34-17 lead. In 15 minutes, 35 seconds of game time the Browns scored 27 points. The 21 points in the fourth quarter is the most scored by the Browns in the final period since they scored three touchdowns in a 26-21 loss to the Ravens 10 years ago.

"The play of the game without a doubt -- and I told him this on the sideline -- was Josh Cribbs' big return to flip the field position," Weeden said. "It got us momentum one, but it also flipped the field.

"We were backed up. We were back there inside our 20 over and over. And then we had penalties. We were second and 20 on the 20 (yard line). That's a pretty tough situation, but we were able to overcome it."

Brown has taken heat this season for supposedly being too old and too slow, but his experience was the key to making the interception he returned for a touchdown. He read the play perfectly and stepped in front of Brandon Tate for the steal.

The Browns needed that insurance because with 5:21, left A.J. Green scorched Joe Haden for 57 yard and a touchdown to make it 34-24. The Browns didn't ice the game until Emmanuel Stephens rushed from the edge and wrapped his arms around Andy Dalton at the Browns 9 and forced a strip sack with 2:39 left. Billy Winn scooped up the ball and returned it 35 yards to the Bengals 42.

Cribbs, always optimistic, said the Browns can build on Sunday as they get ready for the Colts next week. Brown agrees - with a big IF in capital letters.

"If the guys handle it the right way," Brown said. "We have a lot of first-year guys here. This game is over, right? The next one counts. So what will you do next Sunday? That's what's important."

The Bengals, 3-3, have lost two straight. They thought they let a 17-13 loss to the Dolphins slip away last week. They blamed themselves for squandering a 14-7 halftime lead Sunday.